The Bakery
by ApplesAreForever
Summary: Hinata lives to bake. She absolutely adores making desserts. But more than making desserts, she loves to watch people enjoy her desserts. One day, a guy with a bubbly personality walks in and changes Hinata's quiet bakery life. What happens next?


"Shoot! Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot!" I swore, taking out the tray of black croissants from the oven. I dropped the tray on the top of the stove and sighed. "I-I'm so sorry everyone!" I said, bowing as low as I could go. I thought I could feel the disappointed glares of everyone piercing into my skin, but then I heard everyone burst into laugher. "Hinata, I don't think I've ever heard you swear before." Sora, one of the head bakers chuckled. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"N-neither d-did I," I replied.

"It's okay dearie." Sora patted my back. "Everyone makes mistakes with croissants the first time."

"I-I'll try harder next time!"

"Don't worry dearie! Leave the croissants and stick to your desserts! The cakes you make are delicious!"

This made me blush again. "T-Thank you!" I said bowing for the second time that day.

"Your mother would be proud." I smiled as I thought of her.

My mother used to be a pastry chef and she used to work in this exact bakery. When I was little, she would always make wonderful desserts for my sister and me. "Don't eat too much, or you'll become as round as a jelly donut!" She'd laugh as she poked my pink, chubby cheeks. Whenever I helped her bake cakes she would always tell me stories about how she used to bake cakes for my father when they were young.

One day, she became gravely ill and she stopped baking. However, she always encouraged me to bake. She knew that it made me happy. When she passed away, my father shut himself up in his room and he would hardly come out, even if my sister or I called out to him. One day, I had gotten fed up with my father and decided to bake a cake. I baked a strawberry shortcake and decorated it with buttercream frosting and little bits of strawberries. I barged into my father's room (it was quite a shock that he left the door unlocked), put the plate in front of him, and forced him to eat it. Hesitantly, he took one bite and he smiled for the first time in weeks. "This is delicious. You have a gift, just like your mother." Then he proceeded to finish the entire cake. It was then that I knew that I wanted to be a pastry chef, like my mother.

"Hinata! We have a customer!" Akira, one of my co-workers called, jerking me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see two deep blue eyes staring at me. They belonged to a really good-looking guy with blond hair and perfectly tanned skin who looked like he was around my age.

"I-I'm so sorry! H-how may I help you?" I asked, blushing for the third time.

The blond guy laughed. "It's okay! Don't worry about it. I need to get this stuff," he said, giving me a crumpled up list.

I examined the contents and nodded my head. Our bakery also made our own baking products such as butter, flour, and the works. I gathered requirements and put them in a bag.

"Hi-Hinata. That's your name right?"

I nodded, blushing. Sora had always said that name tags were helpful.

"That's a pretty name! I'm Naruto by the way."

I smiled. "Hi," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm feeling kind of hungry now," he said, examining the cakes. "This place smells so good. How can you work here and not feel hungry? If I worked here all I would do is eat."

I giggled. "H-Here's e-everything on the l-list," I said, pushing the heavy bag towards him. "W-Would you like anything else?"

"Now that I think about it, I feel like eating a chocolate éclair." My eyes lit up.

"You want to eat one of the desserts? You will not regret this! I promise! Those were made with lots of love and care, I can assure you. Will you be eating that here or will you be taking it home?" After realizing my sudden outburst I blushed again. _What is wrong with me? Why can't I keep my excitement about my desserts to myself. _

Naruto looked at me and laughed. "Wow, you sure have a lot of passion! I like that. I think I'll have it here. How much will that be?"

I punched the prices into the cashier. "T-That will be a total of $10.50."

"Here you are," Naruto said giving me the correct amount of cash.

"Thank you, here's your receipt." Naruto crumpled it up and stuffed it in his pocket. "Oh boy, this looks delicious!" He took a huge chomp and his eyes lit up. _C-cute!_ "This is amazing! I think I'm in love!" He said devouring the whole thing.

"I'm sure Hinata's glad to hear that. She's the one who made them," Sora came out of the kitchen and put a hand on my shoulder. I, of course, blushed again.

"You are my new best friend!" Naruto said taking my hand and shaking it. "That was pure heaven! The chocolate and cream combination was just perfect!"

I felt my face heating up and I thought that I was going to faint any second. _There's a really hot guy holding my hand! _

"T-Thank you, N-Naruto!" He was still shaking my hand.

"I've got to head back now, or else I'll be in trouble. I'll be sure to come back and try more of your desserts!" He picked up his bag, but he was still holding my hand. _Now I'm really going to faint. _

"N-Naruto, m-my hand…" I think my entire body turned red.

"Huh? Oh!" He realized and let go. I think I saw his cheeks glow a faint pink. "Hehehe, sorry. Well, see ya!" He waved and walked out of the store.

"W-what a cheerful g-guy," I complimented.

"There's no one who doesn't like your desserts, Hinata. We're so lucky to have you work here. Keep up the great work!" She patted my back and went back to the kitchen. I blushed for the umpteenth time that day. Then I got a flash of deep blue eyes in my mind.

"Naruto," I whispered, touching the hand that he shook. I think I had just developed a little crush.

X X X

The pink frosting formed the words "Happy Birthday Yurika" on top of the vanilla frosting I had covered the entire cake in. I used the same frosting to pipe the edges of the cake to make it look pretty. Then, I added some marzipan roses around the cake. "I-I hope she likes it," I said to Akira as he came by to see what I was doing.

"It looks amazing! She'd be nuts if she didn't."

I laughed. "Y-You're t-too kind."

"No really!" Then he muttered something about getting more baking soda and made his way to the storeroom. I put the cake in a box placed it on the counter up front.

"Kumiko, I'm done. Why don't you rest a bit?" I told the girl at the counter.

"Really? Thank you so much!" She grinned and went inside. The door opened and a man and a little girl walked in.

"Hello, I'm here to pick up a cake for Yurika." The man said.

"Oh yes! Here it is! I understand that you already paid for it." I gestured towards the box.

"Yes, yes I did," the man said opening the box. The little girl bounded over and looked inside. She grinned, revealing that she was missing two of her front teeth.

"Wow, so pretty! Thank you daddy!" She hugged her dad and I smiled, thinking about my own dad.

"Thanks so much!" The man said, holding the box in one hand. "Come Yurika, let's go."

It was a wonderful feeling when you could make people happy with your work. A thud interrupted my thoughts. I looked in the direction of the window, right next to the counter, which had the bakery's name. I almost jumped out of my skin as I saw a face mashed against it. I noticed blond hair and realized that it was Naruto. Then I started laughing. Naruto unglued himself from the window and looked like he was in a fit of laugher.

"You should have seen your face!" He laughed as he entered the store. "It was priceless."

I blushed. "You s-scared m-me! People don't usually d-do that k-kind of stuff, you know."

Naruto tried to calm himself down, but he would occasionally burst into laugher again. "I'm sorry, you were just too fu-hahahaha!"

"W-Was it really that funny?" I asked.

"Yeah, and cute." He chuckled and I blushed. _He called me cute. _

"W-why d-did you smash your face on the window?"

"Hmm? Oh, I did that just to see your reaction. I'm a mega prankster."

I laughed. "S-So what brings you here today?"

"I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd drop in and say hi to my new best friend and maybe try one or two of your delicious creations."

"M-my creations?" I smiled.

"Yeah! That blueberry cheesecake over there looks like it's dying for me to eat it." He pointed towards the cake display.

My eyes lit up. "Ah yes! It's one of my personal favorites. It's my mother's secret recipe. We used to make it together all the time." I took one out and arranged it neatly on a plate along with a fork. _I hope he enjoys eating it as well. _

"Here you go!" I said handing it to him.

"Wow! This looks great!" He tucked in. I noticed a group of customers coming in, so I motioned to a table for Naruto to sit at and told him I would be with him in a minute. After the group of customers left I rejoined Naruto.

"So, how was it?"

"AMAZING! It was so light and smooth and it wasn't sickly sweet! You've got serious talent!"

I blushed. _Apparently I also have a talent for blushing. _"T-Thank you so much!" I smiled and told him about my mother. When I was done, I saw that he was looking at me.

"W-What?" I asked, blushing again. I tucked a strand of my midnight blue hair behind my ear.

"You're not like the other girls I know. They would rather party all night long rather than bake. You have this certain fire inside you when you talk about your creations. It seems like baking makes you happy."

I felt my face heating up again and a smile spreading across my face. "I-I love to bake. B-But there's also a certain h-happiness I get w-when I see people enjoying my desserts. It's a wonderful feeling. I used to bake with my mom all the time when I was young."

"What about now? No time?"

I looked down. "My mom passed away 9 years ago, when I was 14."

Naruto's face fell. "I'm so sorry."

I gave him an appreciating smile. "D-Don't be. Besides, I still have m-my dad and my sister. We're v-very close. S-s-so tell me a-about your family."

Naruto smiled. "My parents died when I was very small. I don't remember them. But I live with my godfather, so it's not like I don't know what it's like to have a parent."

"O-Oh, I-I'm s-sorry to h-hear that. W-What's your g-godfather like?"

"He's a mega pervert. I call him Pervy Sage. He absolutely adores women. And their physique, if you know what I mean."

I blushed and then I laughed.

"But he's cool. We're really close." He grinned. "So what else is good to eat?"

X X X

Many days passed by and Naruto visited the bakery without fail. Soon the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months. During that period of time, my crush developed even more. Each time I saw Naruto, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. It gave me this fluttery feeling and I sometimes I found myself randomly thinking about Naruto.

Naruto never failed to compliment my desserts. Everyday there was something new for him to try because I was constantly experimenting at home. Sometimes if he really liked something, he would repeat it. At one point he said that he was cheating on the chocolate éclairs with this tiramisu I made.

One day, Naruto didn't show up. And he didn't show up the next. Or the next. He didn't show up for two weeks. Not only me, but everyone at the bakery wondered where he was.

"I hope he's okay," I wondered out loud to Sora, who was closing the store for the night.

"I'm sure he's okay. Maybe he's really busy with work. Well, get plenty of rest. Christmas season is going to come soon and we're going to be busy busy busy!" I bid Sora good night and headed towards my house.

I was really worried about Naruto. _If he had work he would have told me right? It's not like him not to tell people about his problems. _As I passed this bar, the doors slammed open and a buff looking guy shoved someone out.

"No money, no drink!" He boomed, and then he closed the door.

"Jerk!" The person slurred. Then he stumbled into me. With a start I realized that he had spiky blond hair.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." Naruto stammered.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" I worriedly asked.

"Oh hey Hinata!" He hiccupped. "I didn't realize it was you." He struggled to keep his balance.

"W-What happened?"

"Why does everything look so funny?" Naruto fell splat on the ground. _What do I do? I can't just leave him here. Maybe I should take him home. I_ do_ live nearby. _

"H-here, c-come with me." I helped him up.

"A-are we going to get more drinks?"

"No," I said, struggling to support him. He was a head and a half taller than me.

I don't know how I did it, but somehow I managed to take him to my apartment. I made him sit down on my green, oversized couch and gave him a glass of water to drink.

"What happened, Naruto? Why are you like this?"

"What do you mean 'what happened'? Everything is great!" _Gosh, he's really drunk. _

"N-Naruto, you're not yourself. Please tell me. I can tell that there's something wrong."

"I told you it's nothing!" He lashed out, but missed. He collapsed on the couch and started crying. "Pervy Sage is dead. He died in a car accident two weeks ago."

My heart sank. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. All I could so was watch Naruto cry. Slowly, I put my arms around him, and then I realized that I was crying with him.

"Why must everyone I love die? First my parents, and now him." He sobbed into my shoulder. Seeing Naruto this way broke my heart. I hugged him tighter. After what seemed like forever, Naruto stopped crying. He looked exhausted. I led him to my bedroom and made him sleep on my bed. I placed the sheets over him. _He needs my bed more than I do. _I went back to the living room and made a bed out of my green couch. _Who knew that this would come in handy someday? Now I'm glad that it's oversized. _I yawned and slowly felt myself drift away.

X X X

The next morning I woke up and got ready for work, as usual. Naruto was still asleep when I left. _He'll probably be hung over when he gets up. _I had left a note saying that he could help himself to some cereal or fry an egg or something for breakfast. After work, I had assumed that he would have gone back to his house, but he was still there when I got back. He was sitting on the couch, staring off into space.

"H-Hello N-Naruto," I greeted, entering the house.

"Hi Hinata," he smiled meekly. Then he continued staring off into space. _Has he been sitting like that the whole day? _I noticed his hair was a mess, he had bags under his eyes, and his clothes were crumpled.

"D-Did you eat anything?" No answer. I looked in the fridge and everything looked untouched. Same situation with the cabinets. I gave Naruto a worried glace.

"N-Naruto, I think you should eat something." Silence. I poured him a glass of water and placed it in front of him. "D-drink this, you'll feel better." No movement. I was starting to get upset. "Naruto! You can't go on acting like this!" Still no response. I sighed angrily and started rummaging in my cabinets. I needed to bake. Before I knew it, I realized that I was baking a strawberry shortcake. While it was in the oven, I changed into my polka-dotted pajamas. _It's not like he'll notice anyway. _

When it was time, I took the cake out of the oven. Smothered it with buttercream frosting and layered sliced strawberries on top of it. I refrigerated it for a few minutes, took it out, and then cut a huge slice. I put it on a plate, not bothering to carefully arrange it, grabbed a fork and put it in front of Naruto.

"Eat," I ordered. "You have to." Just as I expected, no response. "Oh come on, Naruto! Don't make me force it down your throat." Still no movement. I sighed, and cut a small piece with the fork and held it up in front of him. I was going to feed him.

"Open your mouth." Thankfully he did, and I fed him his first bite. I could tell he liked it because he opened his mouth for the second bite. Tears slid down his face as I fed him, but he finished the entire slice.

"You know, your godfather will never leave you. Though he may not physically be with you, he will always be in your heart. I was devasted when my mother died. I had to get over it quickly because I had to take care of my father and sister. But I knew my mother was still with me, guiding me to move forward. Sometimes I think she's standing with me while I bake, watching with a smile on her face. Your godfather will always be with you, watching with a smile on his face." Naruto looked at me. I smiled and felt something wet slide down my face. I was crying too. I wiped away Naruto's tears and smiled.

"Thank you, Hinata." I grinned and wiped my tears away.

"I'm hear if you need me, if you need someone to talk to."

"I'm hungry. Can I have another slice of that cake?"

I laughed. "Now there's the Naruto I know!"

X X X

A couple more weeks passed, and Naruto was soon back to his original self. He started coming back to the bakery and even helped out a few times. The staff were always grateful to have an extra hand.

"Hey Hinata, you're a girl! I need your help!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Well, you see, there's this girl that I've started to like recently, and I want to tell her how I feel." My heart felt like someone had ripped it out, torn it to pieces, taped it back together, and put it back in my chest. I suddenly felt devastated, but tried not to show him.

"A girl? Well, maybe I can help! Why don't I bake a cake for her and then you can give it to her?"

"That's a great idea! She'd love eating your cake! Could you put the words "I love you" on the cake?"

"Of course!" Inside, I felt like I had shattered, but I didn't show it. "This is going to be the most amazing cake ever! You'll see! Any ideas for flavors?"

"Oh…I don't know what her favorite flavor is…you decide."

"Okay. Don't worry! This will all work out. I'll have it done by tomorrow!"

X X X

I decided to make a chocolate cake. I just felt like making a Devil's Food Cake after looking though a chocolate cookbook. I tried my hardest not to cry into the batter while I made the cake. This girl was probably very pretty and smart. She was probably taller, probably more outgoing. I wanted Naruto to be happy, so I poured all my heart and soul into the cake. Finally, the time came to frost it. I covered the entire cake in a dark chocolate frosting. Then, I took white frosting and wrote the words "I love you" in the center.

"I hope she loves Naruto too," I whispered to myself, placing the cake neatly in a box. Just to make it look pretty, I tied a lilac ribbon around the box. I waited at the counter until Naruto came.

"Here's the cake!" I pushed the box towards him.

"I bet it looks amazing!" He paid me and then he picked up the box.

"G-good luck!" I said, giving Naruto a thumbs up.

He grinned, then he gave me the box. "It's for you."

My eyes widened. "Huh?"

"The cake, it's for you."

"But I thought you said it's for a girl you love…I don't understand."

"It's you, Hinata. I love you." He grinned, blushed, and scratched his golden hair.

I blushed too. _I just made a cake for myself. _I started laughing and crying. "I love you too." Naruto leaned closer, wiped away my tears, and kissed me.

"Thank you for being there for me at a time when I was lonely, thank you for your wonderful creations, thank you for coming into my life." He whispered in my ear.

I put the box down and hugged him. "Thank you for eating all of the desserts I made. And thanks for this cake!"

He laughed and then he kissed me again.

THE END


End file.
